Nathan Clifford
| Nathan Clifford | |
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| Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States | |
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In office January 12, 1858 – July 25, 1881 |
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| Appointed by | James Buchanan |
| Preceded by | Benjamin Curtis |
| Succeeded by | Horace Gray |
| United States Ambassador to Mexico | |
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In office October 2, 1848 – September 6, 1849 |
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| President |
James Polk Zachary Taylor |
| Preceded by | John Slidell |
| Succeeded by | Robert Letcher |
| United States Attorney General | |
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In office October 17, 1846 – March 17, 1848 |
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| President | James Polk |
| Preceded by | John Mason |
| Succeeded by | Isaac Toucey |
| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Maine's 1st district |
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In office March 4, 1839 – March 4, 1843 |
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| Preceded by | John Fairfield |
| Succeeded by | Joshua Herrick |
| Attorney General of Maine | |
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In office January 1, 1834 – January 3, 1838 |
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| Governor | Robert Dunlap |
| Preceded by | Jonathan Rogers |
| Succeeded by | Daniel Goodenow |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
August 18, 1803 Rumney, New Hampshire, U.S. |
| Died | July 25, 1881 (aged 77) Cornish, Maine, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse(s) | Hannah Ayer |
Nathan Clifford (August 18, 1803 – July 25, 1881) was an American , diplomat and jurist, whose career culminated in a lengthy period of service as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.
Clifford was born of old Yankee stock in Rumney, New Hampshire, to Deacon Nathaniel Clifford and Lydia Simpson Clifford, the eldest and only son of seven children. (His great-great-grandmother, Ann Smith, wife of Israel Clifford, was an accuser of Goody Cole in 1672, at the age of 10.) He attended the public schools of that town, then the Haverhill Academy in New Hampshire, and finally the New Hampton Literary Institute (now known as the New Hampton School). After teaching school for a time, he studied law in the offices of Josiah Quincy III and was admitted to the bar in Maine in 1827, establishing his first practice in Newfield, Maine. It was in Newfield where he met his wife, Hannah Ayer. Together they had six children. He served in the Maine House of Representatives from 1830 to 1834 and served as speaker of that house the last two years. He was then Maine Attorney General from 1834 until 1838, when he entered national politics.
Initially, Clifford ran for the Senate and lost. Then, Clifford was elected as a Democrat to the 26th and 27th Congresses, serving March 4, 1839, through March 3, 1843, and representing the Second and then the Third District. In Washington D.C. he followed the Democratic party line on policies, and was a strong supporter of the Van Buren administration. Clifford was opposed to a high tariff, supported internal improvements, endorsed state banking, and was in favor of federal retrenchment. He also criticized abolition, saying that its supporters were well intentioned but denounced the “mean and incendiary schemes of political Abolitionists.” Due to re-redistricting and political infighting, Clifford was not a candidate for re-election in 1842.
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